Ments



B. T. LEVEQUE. THREAD CUTTING MECHANISM. APPLXCATION FILED FEB. 71 1917.

1,317,800. Patented Oct. 7,1919.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

B. T, LEVEQUE.

THREAD cunme MECHANlSM.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 1, 19H.

. Patented Oct. 7,1919.

61 I mu 0 LINK UNITE El A r r ce.

BERNARD T. LEVEQUE, OF WENHAM, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BYMESNE ASSIGN MENTS, TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY,

A CORPORATIONOF NEW JERSEY.

THREAD-CUTTING MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. '7, 1919.

Application filed February 7, 1917. Serial No. 147,172.

Wenham, in the county of Essex and Stateof- Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Tilhread-Cutting Mechanisms, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to machines for cutting the loose thread ends from material which has undergone a number of sewing operations which. leave such. ends upon the surface ofthe material, one instance being the buttonhole flies of. shoe uppers. The loose thread ends detract from the appearance of the finished article and, it has been the practice, in shoe manufacture, to clip them with shears. Thiswork, even with expertworkers requires substantial time and speed is secured at the expense of thoroughness for the threads are usually of the same color as the material and all cannot be located by cursory inspection.v

A machine which searches successive portions of the surface of the material for the loose thread ends, picks them up and severs the threads close to the surface of the material' is therefore a great desideratum. The

machine of the present invention embodies mechanism effective to produce these desired resultsaccurately and rapidly.

A feature. of the invention consists in means operative intermittently to feed the workv over a suitable support, and mechanism operative between the successive work feeding; movements to grip and tauten loose thread ends and, to sever the tautened threads adjacent to the face of the work.

The intermittent feed of the material enables the thread searching and tauteningmeans to operate between. feeding movements upon successive portions of the work while the latter isfat rest. The; provision of means to tauten a picked up thread insures the severance of the thread when the cutting means is operated at the time of thread tautening.

A related feature of the invention con.- sists in means for drawing the work through anopening in a. support to subject the threads to the action of severing means. I have shown herein thread gripping and tautening means positioned below a slotted work support and constructed and arranged to be projected through its slotted portion. tosearch for and grip loose thread ends and arranged to be retracted below the slotted portion to tauten the gripped threadand to pull the attached portion of the work within said slotted portion. The tautening action of the thread gripping means enables that portion of the work to which a gripped thread isattache'd, to be drawn into. the slotted portion of the work support so that the gripped thread is severed close to the surface of-the work. 7

Afurther feature of the invention consists in plural thread engaging means movable in spaced relation toward and into. close proximity to the work and thence toward each other and across the surface of the work to pick up and grip loose threads and movable subsequently away. from the work. to tauten gripped thread ends while they are subjected to the action of severing means.

This severing means is preferably operative in timed relation to cut the tautened thread at a point between said jaws and the work..-

The closing movement of the thread gripping jaws causes these jaws to: search. the

face of the work for loose threads which will:

be caught between the jaws and, picked. up.

and tautenedwhen they are lowered.

Another feature of the invention consists in feeding mechanismconstructed and arranged to cause means for presenting thread to the severing means to perform a plurality of successive operations upon portionsof the work. This may be through; the-agency'of thread gripping jaws movable over, the face of the work transversely of the line of feeding movement to grip loose threads, said work feeding mechanism being operative intermittently to feedthe work a distance less than the width of said gripping jaws. The successive feeding movements of the- Work through distances less than the width of the gripping aws insures thorough searching of. the face of the work for loose threads.

Preferably, the length of each feeding movement is substantially. half the widthof the gripping jaws so that each successive portion of, the work is searched or combed twiceby. the gripping jaws. This can be made to apply to the first half of the portion.

at the end of the work first acted uponby the gripping jaws by initially positioning this-end rearwardly of the forwardedge oi thefgrippingjaws. 7 While these proportionate movements are desirable and, owing to the high speed at which the machine may be operated, do not unreasonably slow down the thread cutting operation, the invention is not intended to be limited thereby except as specifically stated in the claims.

The recitedand other features and advantages will be more fully apparent from the detailed description following when read in connection with in which Figure 1' is a fragmentary bottom perspecthe accompanying drawings tive view of the work feeding, thread grip ping andtautening means and thread cutrelation,

ter'with their operating means, the work supporting casing and 'presser foot being omitted,

Fig. 2 is a "19W in front elevation'of the machine, with certain of the operating parts 7 shown in dotted lines, I v

' Fig. 3 is a'plan view on an enlarged scale of the throat plate with the feed dog, gripping jaws and thread cutter in cooperative Fig. 4 is a vertical section on the line Fig? 3, with the gripping jaws iulowered, thread-tautening position,

Fig. 5 is a Vertical section on the line r1aa 1,

Fig. "3, but with the jaws in raised closing position,

Fig. 6 is a vertical section taken on the line 6-6, of Fig. 4, and

Fig.7 is-a detail of the presser foot and its releasing means.

The operatingmechanism is housed in a suitable casing 2, 2) whose top plate is formed with an opening With flanged edges toreceive a throat plate 4: which may i be secured to the casing by suitable screws or other securing means. The throatplate is formed with a T-shaped slot 6 (Fig. 3) below whichthe work-feeding and thread grippingand severing mechanisms re located. p

Above the slot 6 in the throat plate, a suitable presser-foot 8 is carried at the lower end of a lever 10 whose upper end is formed as a sleeve journaling on a pin 12 project ing from a suitable bracket 1 L (Fig. 2) upstanding from the top of the casing. 2. Between its ends the lever is enlarged and formed with a bore to receive the laterally I ofiset upper end of a rod 16 extending downwardly through an opening in the'top plate of the casingand normally pressed downwardlyto pull the presser' foot downward into'yielding contact withthe 'work by a coiled spring. 17 sleeved on the rod with one end'engaging the under side of the top plate of the casing and the other end operating an inst a head on the lower end of the rod t ddepress the rod. Suitable means may be 7 employed for lifting the rod ltl against the.

present invention and the presser foot may be lifted by hand if desired.

Below the slot 6 and within the casing 2 are certain mechanisms operative in timed relation to feed the work step by step over the slot, to search the under face of the work for loose thread ends and to grip and sever said loose ends closely adgacent to the. surface of the work. These mechanisms are operated from a common drive shaft22 suitably journaledin the casing 2 and extending transverselyof the casing. The shaft is provided with a'suitable driving pulley 124; and belt 26 (Fig. 2) operated from any suitable source of power. Preferably, a clutch mechanism is provided with means to retract the clutch and stop'the machine. The form which the clutch mechanism may take is immaterial to the present invention. In the drawings, a brake ring 21:011 the drive shaft has a peripheral stop shoulder arranged to be engaged bya depending stop pin 230a; ried at the end of an arm 20 wh1ch, together with the presser foot releasing arm20, may

be operated through the clutch releasing means. V r

The driving shaft 22 is supported in spaced bearing. sleeves 27 which are carried by bracket plates 28 30 secured to and extending from'the casing 2. Between the two bearing sleeves, the shaft 22 carries and rotates a cam32 spaced from the bearing 24- by a sleeve 34, and having peripheral contact with the bifurcated ends 36 of a crank 7 arm '38 secured to a rock shaft 40 journaled in spaced bracket arms 42 (Fig. 1) suitably attached to the casing 2. Spaced crank arms 44 extend substantially at right angles to the arni' 38 and have their ends forming bearings. for the laterally offset ends 46 of the,

T-liead of a reciprocating bar 48 which as will be later seen, serves to actuate the work feeding and thread gripping means.

@The work feedingmeans cooperates with the presser foot 8 through the elongated portion oft-he slot 6 ofthe throat plate and includes a feed dog 50 having an upper transversely serrated work gripping face: and a lower laterally offset arm 52 from which depends a foot 54 slotted fl'Olii its lower edge upwardly, for connection to the actuating bar 48. I i

The foot 54' is connected to one of two e l-e800 under side of the throat plate at opposite sides of the forward, or laterally enlarged end of the'slot 6 in said plate by brackets having bases 56 suitably attached to the under face of the throat plate and having depending spaced arms 58 housing blocks 60 formingthe upper arms of bell cranklevers pivoted between the bracket arms 58 at 61 and having their lower arms 62 reduced in size and extending toward and terminating closely adjacent to each other. These lower arms terminate in spaced rounded knobs 64:

seated within a bodily movable coupling sleeve 66 to move upwardly with and turn relatively to the sleeve (Figs. 4 and 5) when the coupling sleeve is moved toward the throat plate to turn the bell crank levers on their pivots 61. The coupling sleeve 66, which, in lengthwise cross section is in the form of an elongated U turned through an angle of 90 degrees, has a rigid depending foot 68 having a sho-rtundercut groove in its face (Fig. 1) into which the base 70 of an angular connecting arm is dove-tailed for snug fittingand to which the foot 68 is rigidly attached by a screw or other securing means. The angular connecting arm is substantially L-shaped, itsv long "arm 72 1) terminating in a short lateral offset having an outstanding rib 74 fitting snugly in the slot formed in the foot 54fdirectly and fully to receive the motion of the actuating bar.

The movement of the-actuating bar is forwardly and upwardly and rearwardly and downwardly, as will be seen, and causes the serrated face of the feed dog 50 to press the work against the presser foot and to grip and feed the work forwardly toward and along the line of the slot'61in the throat plate.

1 The forward and rearward movementsof the bar. 48 transmitted to the coupling 66,

cause it to slide longitudinally on the roundedknobs-Gl of the bell crank levers,

and the upward and downward movements 7 j of the bar which occur coincidently with upwardly and downwardly,- respectively, swinging the bell-crank levers on their pivots 61 and actuating certain thread searching, gripping andtautening mechanism carried by the block ends60of the bell crank levers.

Each block 60 is formed with a bore 78 extending laterally of the block and in a direction transversely of the throat plate and with alined but-shorterlateral slots 80 (Figs. 4, 5 and 6) which extend to the op- 'posite faces of the blocks. The outer ends of plungers 82 extend through the bores 78 and are retained in the bores by attached screws 84 whose heads extend into the plane of the slots 80 (Fig. 6) and limit the longitudinal movement of the plungers. The plungers normally tend to move inwardly toward each other because of the tension of the coiled springs 86 sleeved on the plungers with their outer ends abutting the inner faces of the blocks 60 and their inner and adjacent ends engaging shoulders on the plungers 82 formed by the outer ends of enlargements or gripping headsS-S at the inner ends of the plungers.

These gripping heads extend upwardly and terminate in toothed gripping jaws 90.

position (Fig. 4) the gripping jaws are engaged under pressure to force the plungers 82 outwardly and to compress the springs 86. When the inner ends of the bell crank levers are swung upwardly (Fig. 5) swinging the outer ends of the bell crank levers outwardly away from each other and tending to swing the gripping aws 9O upwardly and away from each other, the springs 86 will tend to project these jaws toward each other, this movement being limited by the screw heads 84 and slots 80 to position the jaws 90 in substantially spaced relation at the limit of the upward movement of the inner ends 6% of the bell crank levers.

Downward movement of the inner ends 64 of the bell crank levers causes the gripping jaws to move toward each other transversely of the work, searching its surface for loose thread ends and gripping'the threads between the jaws when they meet, the springs 86 being compressed to exertsubstantial gripping pressure against the jaws.

he upward movement of thegripping jaws projects the jaws through and above the laterally enlarged end of the slot 6 into. forcible contact with the under face of the work, which contact is maintained during the transverse closing movement of the jaws.

This contact is assured and renderedmost effective by the downward pressure of the operators hand on the work as it is guided over the throat plate in the manner usual with machines having work feeds of the sewing machine type. In Fig. v5, the jaws are seen'in their partially closed position and in Fig- 4 in fully closed lowered position-with the gripped thread tautened and ready for severance by the cutting knife.

The actuating bar 48 is reciprocated, as previously explained, by the action of the cam' 82 upon the crank 38 and rock shaft 40,

In its forward, or work feeding movement the bar receives a coincident upward component of movement. On a spindle 92, suitably supported within the I casing forwardly of'and' above the main driving shaft 22, the hub 94 of a rock arm 96 is journal'ed. The bifurcated ends 98 of this arm are'laterally ofiset'to engage 'at'opposite sides the peripheries of adjacent cams 100, 102, carried 1 by and rotating with the driving shaft22. These cams engage the opposed bifurcated 7 ends 98 at all times to prevent lost motion horizontal plane of the rod 92, and in alinement with the bar 48, making the rock arm with its L-shaped fingerfunction as a bell crank lever, a

The upper end of the finger carries a headed pin 106 clamped to the end of the finger. A portion ofthe actuating bar 48 adjacent to the upper end of finger 104 is flattened and enlarged laterally and formed with a longitudinal slot 108 through which the headed pin extends and against the sides of which bears an anti friction roller 1.10 journaled on the'pin 106 and retained within the slot by the head of'the pin which overlies the flattened face of the bar.

The cams 100, 102 are timed so to rock the arm 96 coincidently'withthe forward movement of the bar 48 as to give the bar an upward component of movement and to rockthe arm 96 in the reverse direction coincidently -with the succeeding rearward movement of the bar to give this rearward movement a downward component. The forward and upward movement of the bar 48, as previously described, causes the feed dog to' engage, grip and feed forwardly the work toward thelaterally enlarged end of the slot 0 6 in the throat plate and coincident-1y swings and lifts the coupling sleeve 66 to open and move. the gripping jaws 90 upwardly through'the laterally enlarged end of slot 6 to press against the under face of the work.

On the succeeding.rearward and downward movement of the bar 48, the feed dog 50 is drawn rearwardly and downwardly from the work (which is now stationary), combing out any loose thread ends with which it may be in contact and reaching the position for a second feedingmovement. At the same time the gripping jaws 90 are closed and then lowered under increasing spring, tension, pulling tautthe thread, if

any, gripped between the aws as they close and also pulling the thread-attached Work downwardly through or partially through the slot 6 so that its under face will be positioned closely adjacent to the plane of movewhile agripped thread may be loosely held between the jaws at the initial downward movement and will be slightly tautened as the jaws move downwardly (as suggested in Fig. 5), it will be tightly grippedbefore the jaws reach the limit of their downward movement and will be tautened under substantial tension. The slipping permitted by the spring grip in the early stages of downward movement prevents breaking of the threads, when they are initially caught at a point closely'adjacent to the surfaceof the work. 7 i

The cutting knife 112 is in the form of a cutting blade having a curved cutting end and a shank havingan elongated slot therein. (Fig. 3) adjustably clamped in thechanneled upper face of a crank arm 114 carried at the upper end of rock shaft 116 suitably supported from the casing 2 and having a second crank arm 118 at its lower end extending substantially at right angles to the upper crank 114 and having ablock 120 piyiotally' secured to its under face at its en A second rock shaft 122, suitably supported from the casing 2, and laterally spaced from the first shaft 116, has at its lower end a crank arm 124 having a slot embracing the pivoted block 120. Oscillation of the rock shaft 122 will, through this connection, oscillate the shaft 116 carrying the cutting knife, swinging the knife end back and forth over the thread gripping aws.

The rock shafts 116 and 122 are oscillated in timed relation to the operation of the work feeding and thread gripping mecha-v nisms by means of a pin 126 projecting from the side of cam 100 on the driving shaft, which'cam'acts' in this instance as a crank,

the crankpin 126 being connected'to' a bent rod 128 by the split bearing sleeve 130. The

opposite end of the rod is bent upwardly and is. provided with a split sleeve 132 clamped to the head of a pin 134' which pivotally connects the rod to the end of a crank arm 136 secured to the upper end of the rock shaft 122.

Reciprocation 0f the rod 128 through the crank pin 126 will, therefore, rock shaft 122, and through the sliding block connection 120, will rock shaft 116 to swing the hooked cutter 112 across the space above the lowered gripping jaws 90 in a plane closely adjacent to the under surface of the work, as sug gested by the showing in F igf a. The oscillation of the cutter is timed by the crank pin 126 and its motion transmitting connec tion so that the cutter swings across the space above the gripping jaws 90 to sever a thread end gripped by said aws, at that time in the cycle of the gripping mechanism when the jaws reach their lowermost position. The gripped thread, at this time, is tautened and severance is assured. Another advantage derived from this timing of the cutting action is that the downward thread tautening movement of the gripping jaws tends to pull the attached portion of the work through or partially into the slot 6 in the throat plate, so that the point at which the thread is severed is closely adjacent to the surface of the work.

The cam 32 and its motion transmitting connections, are arranged, preferably, for a work feeding stroke effective to move the work a distance equal substantially to onehalf the width of the gripping jaws 90 so that the same portion of the work surface is searched twice by the jaws for loose thread ends. The proportionate movement may, obviously, be widely varied within the spirit of the invention. The operation of the described mechanisms should be clear from the preceding descriptions without detailed summary. Briefly, the timed operation of the different mechanisms is as follows: At the beginning of the cycle, the feed dog is moved forwardly and upwardly to feed the work one, step in the direction of the thread gripping and cutting mechanisms. Coincidently, the cutting knife swings back to initial position for a thread severingstroke and the gripping jaws are moved upwardly in spaced relation through the slot in the throat plate and into contact with the face of the work.. Thus, at the end of the forward work feeding stroke of the feed dog, the thread gripping jaws have been opened and moved up into contact with the work, and the cutting knife which has been swung back out of the way of the upwardly movingjaws, is positioned for a thread severing stroke.

As the feed dog now is retracted for a second feeding stroke,- the gripping jaws move together across the face of the now stationary work, searching its surface for loose thread ends which are gripped between the jaws as they meet and start to descend,

tautening the gripped thread. As the grip ping jaws are descending, the cutting knife begins its swinging movement which is timed to pass over the lowered jaws to en gage a gripped thread when the jaws reach approximately the limit of their downward movement, with the gripped thread tautened and therefore easily severed. As the knife finishes its cutting stroke, the feed dog reaches the limit of its rearward movement, the gripping jaws reach the limit of their downward movement and the mechanisms start through a second cycle. They 'may operate through a continuous series of cycles of any length determined by the operator and the material operated upon. Preferably, as previously described, means will be provided by which the operator may lift the presser foot and may stop the operation of the machine at will.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. A device of the class described having, in combination, a work support, means intermittently to feed the work over said support, and mechanism operative between the successive work feeding movements automatically to grip and tauten loose thread ends and operative in timed relation to sever the tautened threads adjacent to the face of the worln 2. A device of the class described having, in combination, a work support, means intermittently to feed the work over said support, thread gripping and tautening jaws toward which the work is intermittently fed, with mechanism intermittently operative between. successive work feeding movements automatically to bring said jaws together across the face of the work to grip loose threads therebctween and to move said jaws to tauten gripped threads, and mechanism intermittently operable ingtimed relation to sever gripped-threads, when tautened, at a point adjacent to the surface of the work.

3. A device of the class described having, in combination, a work supportin plate provided with an elongated slot, a presser foot above the slot, an alined and cooperating work feeding member below the slot, thread gripping and tautening means normally below and alined with said slot and positioned forwardly of the work feeding member, thread cutting means adjacent to said gripping means and normally out of alinement with said slot, and mechanism operative to reciprocate the feeding member intermittently to move successive portions of the work over the slot and toward the gripping member. and operative in timed relation and between work feeding movements, automaticallv to project the gripping means into the slot to move across the face of the material topicli' up and 5; p loose thread ends and to lower the gripping means support, thread gripping and tautenin in combination, a work supporting plate means spaced from said feed member an positioned below said slotted portion, mechanism to project said gripping means through said slotted portion to search for and grip loose thread ends and to retract said gripping means below said slotted portion to tauten the gripped thread and to draw within the-slotted portion that part of the work to which the thread is attached, and thread severing means arranged to move in a plane. closely adjacent to and beneath the slotted portion, and mechanism intermittently to operate said severingmeans in timed relation to the gripping and tautening means to sever the tautened thread at a point closely adjacent to the face of the work.

5. Adevice of the class described having, in combination, a slotted work support, work feeding mechanism constructed and arranged to engage and intermittently to feed the work overthe slotted portion of said support, thread gripping and tautening means spaced from said feed member and retract said gripping means below said slotted portion to tauten the gripped thread and to draw within the slotted portion that part of thework to which the thread is attached, and thread severing meansarr'anged to move in a plane closely adjacent to and beneath the slotted portion, and mechanism intermittently to operate said severing means in timed relation to the gripping and tautening meansto sever the tautened thread at a point closely adjacent to the face of the work. a 7

6. A device of the class described having,

having an elongated slot therein, work feeding mechanism constructed and arranged to engage and automatically and intermittently feed the work over and longitudinally of said slot, complemental spaced, thread gripping and tautening jaws positioned forwardly of the feeding means and mounted for movement upwardly through saidslot and toward each other transversely of the slot, over the face of the work to grip loose threads and thence downwardly with the gripped thread to tauten the thread and to bring the connected part of the work within the slot, a thread cutting member mounted to move across the slot at a point closely adjacent to the work plate and above the lowered gripping jaws to sever the thread, and mechanism operative in timed relation with the work feeding mechanism and effective between successive work feeding movements intermittently to actuate the gripping and tautening means and subsequently and intermittently in timed relation to actuate the thread cutting means to sever tautened gripped threads.

7. A device of the class described having, in combination, a work support, feeding mechanism operative intermittently to advance the work over the support including a reciprocating transversely serrated feed member movable forwardly toward the work 7 and rearwardly of and away from the work, thread gripping and tautening meansvposr tioned forwardly ofv the feed member and movable across theface of the work and away from said face to pick up and tauten loose threads on the work face between successive work feeding movements,.and thread cutting means operative in timed relation to sever the tautened thread. V V v 8. A device of the class described having, in combination, a work supporting plate having an elongated slot therein, .a presser foot above the slot, a cooperating transversely serrated feed member below 'the presser foot and .slot, thread grippingand tautening means forwardly of thefeed member and below said slot, thread cutting means adjacentto the gripping means and positioned belowthe work plate,'and. mechanism alternately operative to movethe serrated feed member forwardly" and upwardly through the slotto engage the face of the work and feedthe work forwardly: and to move said feed ,men'rber downwardly and and rearwardly away fromthe work and. op-

erative coincidently with downward and rearward .moVement of thewfeed member to project: the gripping means'through the slot to grip'loose threads and toilower. said gripping means to tauten gripped threads, said mechanism including means operative in timed relation to mammals cutting means to sever a gripped thread when tautened.

'9. A device of the class described having, in combination, a'worksupport having a T-shaped slot therein, a pressercfoot above the narrowend of said slot, atransversely serrated feed dog below said presser foot and said end of the slot, thread ripping means alinedwith the enlarged en of said slot and mounted for movement throu h said slotted end and transversely of the slot tosearch the exposed portion of the work for loose thread ends and to grip said threads and for reverse lowering movement from the slot to tauten gripped thread ends, a thread cutter mounted adjacent to said gripping members and movable across: the lowered gripping members in a plane above said members and mechanism organized and operative in timed relation to move said feed dog upwardly into engagement with the work and forwardly to feed the work toward the enlarged end of the slot and rearwardly and downw ardly away from the work and operative intermittently between successive forward work feeding movements to move said gripping means upwardly through said slot and over the exposed face of work and thence downwardly and in. timed relation to effect movement of said cutter transversely over the lowered thread gripping means.

l0.- A device of'the class described having, in combination, a work support, means to feed the work over the support, complemental thread gripping and tautenin'g aws mounted adjacent to the support, mechanism operative to move said jaws in spaced relation toward and into contact with the work and thence toward each other across the exposed face of the work to pick up and grip between their jaws loose thread ends, and operative subsequently to move the closed jaws away from the workto tauten gripped threads, and thread cutting means operative in timed relation to sever the tautened threads at a point between said jaws and the work. I

11. A device of the class described having, in combination, a work support having a slot therein, means to feed the work over the slot, complemental thread gripping jaws! mounted below said slot, mechanism operative in timed relation to move said jaws up: wardly in spaced relation through said slot into contact with the exposed work face and thence toward each other across the exposed face of the work to pick up and grip between their jaws loose thread ends and operative subsequently to lower the closed jaws away from the work to tauten gripped threads, and thread cutting means operative in timed relation to sever the tautened threads at a point above the lowered grippin jaws and adjacent to the face of the work. I

12. A device of the class described having, in combination, a work support having a slot therein, means intermittently to feed the work over said slot, complemental bell crank levers mounted below the work support and slot having abutting interconnected lower ends and gripping jaws pro 7 jecting from their upper ends and toward each other, a thread cutter mounted below the work support adjacent to said jaws and normally positioned out of alinement with the slot, and mechanism operative in timed relation to the work feeding means and between successive work feeding movements to actuate the interconnected bell crank levers to move the gripping jaws upwardly in spaced relation into contact with the eX- posed work face and thence toward each other across the face of the work to pick up and grip between their jaws loose thread ends and thence to lower the closed gripping jaws to tauten gripped threads, said mechanism including means operative in timed relation to actuate said thread cutter transversely of the slot to sever the gripped and tautened thread at a point above the lowered gripping jaws.

13. A device of theclass described having, in combination, a work support, work feeding mechanism constructed and arranged automatically to feed the work over the support, thread gripping means movable over the face of the work transversely of the'line of feeding movement to pick up and grip loose thread ends, said work feed ing mechanism being operative intermittently to feed the work a distance less than the width of the thread gripping means, means to sever the gripped threads and mechanism operative in timed relation to actuate the thread gripping and severing means.

14. A device of the character described having, in combination, a work support, work feeding mechanism including a feed member mounted for reciprocating movement automatically to feed the work over the support, complemental thread gripping jaws movable toward each other over the face of the work transversely of the line of feeding movement to grip loose thread ends between said jaws, said work feeding mechanism being operative intermittently to feed the work a distance less than the width of said gripping jaws, thread cutting means, and mechanism operative intermittently between successive work feeding movements to actuate the thread gripping means and the thread cutting means in timed relation.

15. A device of the class described having, in combination, a work support, work feed ing and thread gripping means having a common operating mechanism and constructed to operate on the work in alternation, and thread cutting mechanism operating in timed relation to the thread gripping means.

16. A device of the class described having, in combination, a work support, means for feeding the work over the support, thread gripping means, and thread cutting means; a common operating shaft for said plurality of means with connections from said common shaft effective to actuate the thread gripping and cutting means in timed relation and alternately with positive feeding movement of the work feeding means.

17. device of the class described having, in combination, a work support, means for feeding the work over the support, thread gripping means and thread cutting means; a power driven operating shaft for said plurality of means; commonoperating connections from said shaft to the work feeding and thread grlpplng means efiectlve to cause said means to operate on the work in alterna tion, and an independent operating connection to the cutting means effective to operate said cutting means in timed relation to the gripping means.

18. A thread-severing mechanism comprising a support provldedwith an open- 'ing, with one side of which support work contacts, severing means operating upon the opposite side of the. support fromthe work,

and means arranged to draw the work through the opening to subject threads to with one-side of which support work con tacts, severing means operating upon the opposite side of the support and thread-engaging means normally situated at the same side of the support as the severing means Copies of this patent may be obtained for and arranged to pass through the opening to draw the work to the opposlte side.

21. In a mechanism of the class described,

a member provided with an opening over which the work is supported, a pair of thread-gripping jaws movable through the opening, and a knife for operating upon the thread on the opposite side of the member from that-on which the work is-supported;

22. In a mechanism of the class described, thread-cutting means, and thread-tensioning members movable toward and across the work into cooperation and then movable to gether from the work;

'23. A thread-severing mechanism comprising severing means, "a plurality of thread gripping members, and means for moving the members into close proximity with the work, then moving them across the surface of the work to grasp the thread and applying tension to the thread while it is subjected to the action of the severing means. 24:. A thread-severing mechanism com prising severing means, means for presenting thread to the severing means, and means for producing an intermittent relative movement of the work, and presenting means to cause said presenting meansto perform a plurality of successive operations upon portions of the work.

25. A thread-severing mechanism com prising severing means, means for present ing thread to the severing means, and means for producing sufficient advance of the work to cause the presenting means to operate in part upon an area previously acted on and in part on afresh area.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification. v

BERNARD T. LEVEQUE.

five cents each, by addressing the Gommissionerof Patents, Washington, D. C. r 

